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    Promoter for Helping the Disadvantaged

    With great emphasis for more than seven decades Ellen White provided the church with a vast reservoir of tender and specific instruction regarding the Christian’s responsibility to the sick, to the physically impaired, and to the economically disadvantaged. Her written counsel reflected her personal practice.MOL 223.8

    Her diaries are full of concern for the poor and suffering. For example, her diary for 1859, when she was a 31-year-old mother with three active boys, contains not only references to her many letters but also many jottings as to what she did with her family, etc: “January 2—Gave Sister Irving a warm cloak and dress and a few other things to make over for her.” “January 3—Paid Sister Bognes $1.00 for making a coat. She was unwilling to take it, but I felt it duty to hand it to her. She is poor and sickly. May the Lord pity and care for her. Said Jesus, ‘The poor always ye have with you.’ May the Lord rid us of selfishness and help us to care for others’ woes and relieve them.” “January 6—Gave Agnes a half-worn dress for her mother. They are poor. The husband and father is sick. Their crops have failed. Have breadstuff to buy and nothing to buy with. Agnes is their main support. She is only seventeen. There are four children now at home. They must suffer unless the church interests themselves in their behalf. May the Lord have mercy upon the needy, and put it in His children’s hearts to dispense to them with a liberal hand.” On and on the diaries go through the years. 33Welfare Ministry, 322, 323.MOL 224.1

    Her personal example added power to her words as she enlisted others in welfare ministry. In 1860 she wrote the following lines in the church paper: “The treasury in the Poor Fund, consisting of clothes, et cetera, for those in need, is nearly exhausted. And as there are cases of destitution continually arising, and one new one has arisen recently, I thought it would be well for those who have clothing, bedding, or money to spare to send it on here immediately. We hope there will be no delay, for we are going to assist some that are needy as soon as we get things together. Send your donations to Sr. Uriah Smith or myself.” 34The Review and Herald, October 30, 1860, p. 192.MOL 224.2

    The dignity of the person being helped always was considered. Ellen White made it clear that used clothing was most appropriate to give to the needy only if it were suitable to be worn without embarrassment: “Some of our people say to me, ‘Give away your old clothes, and that will help the poor.’ Should I give away the garments that I patch and enlarge, the people would not be able to see anything of which they could make use. I buy for them new, strong, durable material. I have visited the factories where they make tweed cloth and have bought a number of remnants that perhaps have a flaw but can be purchased cheap, and will do some good to those to whom we give. I can afford to wear the old garments until they are beyond repair. I have purchased your uncle excellent cloth for pants and vests, and he is now supplied with good respectable clothing. In this way I can supply large families of children with durable garments.” 35Letter 89a, 1894, cited in Welfare Ministry, 328, 329.MOL 224.3

    Throughout Ellen White’s diary or letter files are requests to someone, on behalf of others, such as this needy student: “Will you please inquire of Brother _________ in regard to the clothing that he requires, and what he needs please furnish to him, and charge the same to my account.” 36Welfare Ministry, 329.MOL 224.4

    Of course, Ellen White realized that her family and a few others could not provide for all the desperate needs of those around her, including the needy in the church. While in Australia, she organized a “Dorcas Society” to relieve to some extent the burden that she carried for the disadvantaged. She wrote of one meeting of the Society that met in her home: “Last evening we had a Dorcas Society in our home, and my workers who help in the preparation of my articles for the papers and do the cooking and sewing, five of them, sat up until midnight, cutting out clothing. They made three pairs of pants for the children of one family. Two sewing machines were running until midnight. I think there was never a happier set of workers than were these girls last evening.” 37Welfare Ministry, 334.MOL 224.5

    In her own home, which often was filled with sick relatives and co-workers, the Whites worked in “medical missionary lines.” They took in the sick who had been given up by the physicians, and had many recoveries under the “mighty Healer“: “We used the simple water treatments, and then tried to fasten the eyes of the patients on the great Healer.” 38Welfare Ministry, 326, 327.MOL 225.1

    As a general pattern of life, Ellen White would give ample sums to those who needed financial help. At times she would encourage others to “match” her gifts. She often made clear that in the main she gave for the purpose of helping the needy to become self-sufficient. One such occasion occurred in 1889 when she asked C. H. Jones to “match” her $100 to help Nellie L., a struggling widow with three children, who was trying to educate herself to do kindergarten work so “that she may keep her children with her.” She wrote: “I will help Nellie one hundred dollars if you will do the same....Will you encourage others to help her to get a start in life? It would be far better to do this than to wait and let Nellie be worn out with anxiety and care and fall in the struggle, leaving her children helpless, motherless, to be cared for by others.... I know she will struggle with all her powers to be self-supporting.” 39Welfare Ministry, 327. Frequently Ellen White emphasized that the goal in helping others is to assist them in becoming self-reliant. See Testimonies for the Church 1:480, 481; Testimonies for the Church 6:188, 189, 278, 279; The Ministry of Healing, 183-195; Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 293; The Review and Herald, April 18, 1871; The Review and Herald, January 3, 1899.MOL 225.2

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